Here is a low wage person with % COLA increase with 8% investment return.
Year Wages 9% 8% prev Total
1 25,000 2,250 2,250
2 25,500 2,295 180 4,725
3 26,010 2,341 378 7,444
4 26,530 2,388 596 10,428
5 27,061 2,435 834 13,697
6 27,602 2,484 1,096 17,277
7 28,154 2,534 1,382 21,193
8 28,717 2,585 1,695 25,473
9 29,291 2,636 2,038 30,147
10 29,877 2,689 2,412 35,248
11 30,475 2,743 2,820 40,811
12 31,084 2,798 3,265 46,874
13 31,706 2,854 3,750 53,478
14 32,340 2,911 4,278 60,667
15 32,987 2,969 4,853 68,489
16 33,647 3,028 5,479 76,996
17 34,320 3,089 6,160 86,245
18 35,006 3,151 6,900 96,296
19 35,706 3,214 7,704 107,214
20 36,420 3,278 8,577 119,069
21 37,149 3,343 9,526 131,938
22 37,892 3,410 10,555 145,903
23 38,649 3,478 11,672 161,053
24 39,422 3,548 12,884 177,485
25 40,211 3,619 14,199 195,303
26 41,015 3,691 15,624 214,618
27 41,835 3,765 17,169 235,552
28 42,672 3,840 18,844 258,236
29 43,526 3,917 20,659 282,812
30 44,396 3,996 22,625 309,433
31 45,284 4,076 24,755 338,264
32 46,190 4,157 27,061 369,482
33 47,114 4,240 29,559 403,281
34 48,056 4,325 32,262 439,868
35 49,017 4,412 35,189 479,469
36 49,997 4,500 38,358 522,327
37 50,997 4,590 41,786 568,703
38 52,017 4,682 45,496 618,881
39 53,057 4,775 49,510 673,166
40 54,119 4,871 53,853 731,890
If you use 6% instead it drops to $454,378.
If you use 8% with a 4% cola wage increase instead of 2% the final number jumps to $951,957. Adding five years to that jumps the final number to $1,466,974. With a fifty year work life it launches to $2,238,487. Could you retire on that? Maybe, and maybe not.
With a 3.5% wage COLA and a 7% return you get at 40 years $614,492; 45 years $898,257;at 50 years $1,301,036.
The age for SS was set at two years before most people who lived to collect SS died. Now people are living 25 years in retirement.
Personal responsibility is the answer.
